Freedom Truck Center

Freedom Truck Center of Spokane, WA needed a workhorse of a building—a 45,000 square foot full-service trucking facility with maintenance bays, display showrooms, and administrative office areas. They also needed it fast and at a cost-effective price—presenting challenges for everyone involved, from design through finished construction.

Initially considering a steel joist and deck system, but faced with escalating steel prices and a very aggressive construction schedule, the project design team of ALSC Architects, DCI Engineers and Lydig Construction turned to RedBuilt to design and deliver a high-performance engineered wood solution for the complete structural roof and floor system. Lydig Construction then enlisted Mandere Construction, Inc. as the framing contractor to install it.

“The project presented a unique set of challenges,” said John Mandere. “There was a critical construction path timeframe, coupled with an extraordinary amount of product to be installed very fast.”

The 48” on-center spacing of the RedBuilt Open-Web Trusses also made installation safety considerations a priority for Mandere and his construction personnel. To address this, the roof panels were assembled and sheathed on the ground and then craned into position. This not only mitigated site safety issues and concerns, but also helped deliver on the project’s tight timeline since the panels could be built simultaneously along with work proceeding on other parts of the building frame.

Over nearly two decades Mandere Construction has built a strong reputation in constructing unique and specialized projects including high-end residential homes, hotels, churches, commercial and multi-family / multi-use structures.

“Our success is highly dependent on the performance and reliability of our trade suppliers and partners,” Mandere said. “RedBuilt performs at the same level we do. They get things right the first time, which kept us on track to meet our deadlines. We consider them a true business partner.”